Rare Game Room Gems — Environmental Discs of Tron

When it comes to movies there are some that really were just designed to be turned into a video game.

Disney’s 1982 sci-fi classic Tron is certainly one of those movies, and today we are going to look at the second arcade game based on this movie Discs of Tron made by Midway. Specifically we will be looking at the environmental game cabinet.

Discs of Tron was released in 1983 just one short year after the movie. It is rumored that this was supposed to be part of the very first Tron arcade game — but for what ever reason, it was left out.

Instead it was further developed into its own full game. Discs of Tron was released as a standard stand up cabinet, but it was also released in a really cool environmental cabinet as well.

As far as the game play goes, Discs of Tron is really not all that complex. Yet it offers quite an exciting game play experience at the same time.

You play the role of Tron and must shoot discs at Sark — with you goal being to knock him from his platform. When you knock him down the level will change and there will be more platforms for you to jump between and the difficulty.

While the movie Tron did have a number of set pieces that were tailor made to be turned into a video game — the sequence that this game is based on actually was a very quick one in the film.

Now for what makes this game so awesome and really sought after by collectors is the environmental cabinet.

The aim of the environmental cabinet is to make the player feel like they are in the environment of the game.

Discs of Tron was one of the most elaborate arcade cabinets of the time and it still looks amazing today. When inside the cabinet you do not sit down like in the Star Wars arcade games. Instead you stand up on a disc just like your character on the screen.

When your character on the screen dies you are surrounded by lights just like on the screen. It is crazy and overwhelming and kind of reminds me of the feeling when entering a casino. You get bombarded by the sounds and flashing lights of slot machines all around you.

Also the game boasted incredible sound, using state of the art surround sound when a disc flies past Tron on the screen you will hear it in the cabinet.

The cabinet itself is perhaps just as important as the game. Playing this game on a emulator you probably would not be that impressed.

I would perhaps even go as far to say if you were playing the standard stand up cabinet, you would not be that blown away either.

But if you get the full experience that this game has to offer inside the environmental cabinet then it really is something special.

The price of Discs of Tron is probably not that over the top for the kind of game that it is. The problem you will have is the size of the cabinet and the weight This mother is huge, and many collectors have lamented on what a pain in the butt it is to transport.

In some cases people have been forced to saw the cabinet in two pieces in order to move it.

While it may be a monster and take up a whole heap of space — there is no doubt that this is one of those arcade games that is a true stand out piece in any game room.

If you can find one and have the space — Environmental Discs of Tron is a true game room gem.